Wellesley’s Mike Vasil makes extra exciting Major League Baseball debut for White Sox

It’s rare that a kid from Wellesley makes it all the way from youth baseball in town to the major leagues, but Mike Vasil accomplished that on Monday by making his debut for the Chicago White Sox, who shut out Minnesota 9-0.

The 25-year-old right hander couldn’t have asked for a more exciting opportunity to pitch for the first time in the majors. Starter Martín Pérez (a one-time Red Sox player) held the Minnesota Twins scoreless—and hitless—through six innings, but was pulled after throwing 93 pitches. The White Sox were already up 9-0.

Enter Vasil, for the first time, with the pressure to keep the no-hitter going in the seventh. Chicago’s #61 put away the first two batters, but then left handed hitter Willi Castro banged a sharp single to right for the Twins’ first of just two hits on the day. Vasil kept his cool and got the next batter out to end the inning.

Vasil returned to pitch the eighth. One batter reached on an error and another got a hit, but Vasil got his first career strikeout against Ty France on six pitches, the last resulting in a swing and miss. That ended the inning and that ball was a keeper for the rookie, who sports a 0.00 earned run average.

Reflecting on the sub-40 temperature during the game, Vasil told a reporter for MLB: “Once the sun came out, it was fine. I’m used to pitching in cold weather as well, being from the Northeast. Regardless of that, in your Major League debut, I wasn’t feeling a thing. “

Vasil’s family members hunkered down in Chicago over the weekend after the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher cracked the opening day line-up for the White Sox. Though as a reliever, it was unclear when his chance to pitch might come.

Vasil’s path to this point over the past few months has been improbable, but almost perfect in the end given that the White Sox are a rebuilding team on which young players will get a chance to show what they have.

Vasil was drafted by the New York Mets in 2021, and had his moments in the minors for Mets farm teams. He was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies late last year in the Rule 5 Draft, then flipped to the Tampa Rays for cash. Vasil pitched for the Rays in spring training, but was waived by the team and then claimed by the White Sox.

Back before he was playing baseball professionally, Vasil pitched for BC High and then at the University of Virginia. But he didn’t forget his roots playing T-ball all the way through in Wellesley Little League, including for one of the town’s Williamsport teams. Back in 2017 as a high school player, he took part in a Terriers Sports baseball event pitching to eight-to-twelve year olds who now have a pretty cool story to tell: They batted against a future Major League Baseball player.

The last Wellesley player to make the big leagues, to our knowledge, was Nate Freiman, in 2013. He played two seasons for the Oakland A’s.

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